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UK roofs are made and ceramic and slate. US roofs are made of asphalt. Mostly because asphalt is inexpensive (particularly due to economies of scale/lack of the

UK roofs are made and ceramic and slate. US roofs are made of asphalt. Mostly because asphalt is inexpensive (particularly due to economies of scale/lack of them on ceramic). Ceramic lasts a lifetime, asphalt can be taken out by one bad hail storm. UK homes are made of brick. US homes are made of fiberboard and inexpensive woods. There's a reason why UK homes have lasted over one hundred years, and most US homes won't last 50. It is a consumer culture applied to homes. They're designed to be replaced completely.

arethuza 7y ago
"UK homes are made of brick" I've lived in 11 properties in the UK (owning 4 of them) and most of them were made of stone and were 150+ years old - only the first one (a 1950s council house) was brick.
- aidos 7y ago
  Where are you based? The majority of properties in the UK are brick.
  - arethuza 7y ago
    Mostly in Edinburgh - I wasn't meaning to imply that all properties in the UK are like that, just that I've never lived in many.
twistedpair 7y ago
> most US homes won't last 50 That's wild a claim. I live in a 115 year old US house made of "inexpensive" wood and it's doing just fine, like the rest of the neighborhood.
- surewhynat 7y ago
  New builds have lower life expectancies. Thing about your fridge from the 40s, compressor built to last. How long has your stuff been lasting recently?
  - arethuza 7y ago
    A tip someone told me here in the UK is that if you are buying an inexpensive property try and get one that was built and owned by social housing operators - they actually have much higher construction standards and will have been maintained properly.
- Gwypaas 7y ago
  Very much depends on how it is constructed. As a Swede 100% used to sturdy, well insulated wooden homes having lived in Texas for a while it felt like they were made of paper in comparison. Then Sweden is also known for ridiculously high building standards, even compared to other European countries.
selectodude 7y ago
The US is a big place. In my area, it’s illegal to build houses out of wood. They’re all made out of brick. Every single one.
makomk 7y ago
Of course, since Tesla's cost comparison only works out if you compare their solar roof to one of those more expensive ceramic/slate roofs, it seems fair to compare the lifespan to those roofs too.
perl4ever 7y ago
Well, it would have been a huge waste to build houses to that standard here because they all would have had lead paint! Nobody knew that then, but still. I recently considered buying an old house and ended up with a post-1978 one so I don't have to worry about that. Also, people mention again and again that people replace houses in Japan even more, and yet it doesn't seem to get the jingoistic juices flowing like criticizing the US.

arethuza 7y ago

"UK homes are made of brick" I've lived in 11 properties in the UK (owning 4 of them) and most of them were made of stone and were 150+ years old - only the first one (a 1950s council house) was brick.

aidos 7y ago
Where are you based? The majority of properties in the UK are brick.
- arethuza 7y ago
  Mostly in Edinburgh - I wasn't meaning to imply that all properties in the UK are like that, just that I've never lived in many.

twistedpair 7y ago

> most US homes won't last 50 That's wild a claim. I live in a 115 year old US house made of "inexpensive" wood and it's doing just fine, like the rest of the neighborhood.

surewhynat 7y ago
New builds have lower life expectancies. Thing about your fridge from the 40s, compressor built to last. How long has your stuff been lasting recently?
- arethuza 7y ago
  A tip someone told me here in the UK is that if you are buying an inexpensive property try and get one that was built and owned by social housing operators - they actually have much higher construction standards and will have been maintained properly.
Gwypaas 7y ago
Very much depends on how it is constructed. As a Swede 100% used to sturdy, well insulated wooden homes having lived in Texas for a while it felt like they were made of paper in comparison. Then Sweden is also known for ridiculously high building standards, even compared to other European countries.

selectodude 7y ago

The US is a big place. In my area, it’s illegal to build houses out of wood. They’re all made out of brick. Every single one.

makomk 7y ago

Of course, since Tesla's cost comparison only works out if you compare their solar roof to one of those more expensive ceramic/slate roofs, it seems fair to compare the lifespan to those roofs too.

perl4ever 7y ago

Well, it would have been a huge waste to build houses to that standard here because they all would have had lead paint! Nobody knew that then, but still. I recently considered buying an old house and ended up with a post-1978 one so I don't have to worry about that. Also, people mention again and again that people replace houses in Japan even more, and yet it doesn't seem to get the jingoistic juices flowing like criticizing the US.